Agenda item

This report supersedes the report published on 5^th March 2026

The Principal Officer, Worcestershire Regulatory Services (WRS), introduced the Strategic Environmental Crime Update report. The report updated Members on fly tipping, littering, dog fouling and untidy land enforcement activity within the Borough.

It was noted that in Redditch the majority of fly tipping consisted of small amounts of domestic waste. Waste crime offences were often conducted inadvertently because of a lack of knowledge or understanding that leaving waste outside of a refuse bin is an offence. Recognising this, a significant focus of WRS activity in Redditch had been on informal warnings to provide education on appropriate behaviour. During 2025, 20 streets / local areas in Redditch were targeted by WRS through this activity.

It was noted that intelligence assessments were used to identify hot spot areas where informal warnings and letter drops had been unsuccessful so that those areas could be prioritised for enforcement action.

A summary table was provided in paragraph 3.8 of the report. This provided data for Redditch Borough covering the period 2023 to January 2026 on the number of fly tips, littering, dog fouling, and untidy land cases reported and investigated, and data for the number of enforcement actions being taken against the number of cases reported and investigated. The enforcement actions included letter drops, warning letters, and Fixed Penalty Notices issued. It was highlighted that WRS took over the responsibility for environmental enforcement in the Borough from June 2024. Therefore, only data from that point on reflected activity undertaken by WRS.

Following the presentation of the report, Members debated the report and provided comments. Members expressed concern about insufficient staffing levels to enable effective environmental enforcement, with 1.5 full time equivalent (FTE) posts for environmental crime enforcement across the Borough. Some Members suggested that the Council should investigate how to fund additional officer resources in this area with the aim of improving the enforcement rate.

The Vice-Chair commented that enforcement in Redditch had been a long-term issue with low levels of enforcement actions taken against the number of environmental offences that were being reported. It was highlighted that data in paragraph 3.8 of the report suggested that only a low proportion of fly tipping cases reported and investigated by WRS would lead to an enforcement outcome. Data for 2025 was quoted, for example for fly tipping cases in the Borough that were reported to WRS, less than 0.25 per cent resulted in Fixed Penalty Notices being issued. If reported cases that were investigated by WRS was considered, the proportion of cases that resulted in Fixed Penalty Notices was circa 1.7 per cent.

It was reiterated that WRS officers were aware of fly tipping hotspots within Redditch and that every fly tip identified was recorded. The main issue in respect of fly tipping remained the lack of subsequent evidence that could allow enforcement action to be taken on the reported/investigated cases, as most fly tips in Redditch consisted of single bulky items that were not easily traced back to source. It was also noted that fly tipping was an urban issue in Redditch, and this limited the scope for use of covert camera deployment in tackling fly tipping.

The Technical Services Manager, WRS, explained further that letter drops to provide informal warnings were conducted in conjunction with Council’s tenancy officers. Through letter drops and warning letters, potential offenders were reminded that for council housing tenants, fly tipping offences might impact on social housing tenancy.

The role of education and attitude was discussed. Members commented that the majority of residents in Redditch took pride in their neighbourhoods and wanted to see actions taken to eliminate fly tipping. It was highlighted that further work was needed to increase sense of community cohesion in some areas of the Borough. Members considered it important that fly tipping cases that led to prosecution be publicised widely to provide a strong message to potential perpetrators of environmental crime.

A question was asked about activities that were done to provide fly tipping / littering education in schools in Redditch. WRS Officers responded that the WRS currently had an air quality officer who engaged with schools on that subject, but this approach could be widened in the future to include education on fly tipping and littering.

RESOLVED that

the update on Environmental Crime Enforcement be noted.